Fill a medium sauce pan with water and bring to a boil. You are going to use some of this water over the bulgur (to cook it), and the rest to cook the veggies.

Put the bulgur in a medium bowl, add boiling water to the surface of the grains and let it stand for about 30 minutes, just until tender. Drain and press out any remaining water and toss with a couple pinches of salt. Set aside.

Return the saucepan to the heat and bring the remainder of the water back up to a boil. Salt the water and cook the vegetables together for about five minutes. If you are using frozen vegetables you might have to boil a little longer. Drain, run under colder water to stop the cooking, and add to the bulger.

For the dressing, whisk the garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil, chives, and parsley together and season with more salt if needed. You may want to wait on adding extra salt until everything is mixed together. Don’t want it too salty!

Mix everything together. You may eat it hot, cold, or room temperature. In the original recipe two or three hard boiled eggs are added, but I didn’t bother with this step. If you want, you can chop up two or three hard boiled eggs to sprinkle on the top as a garnish.

Serves 4 - 6.

CARROT SOUP

one two pound bag of baby carrots

one large onion, chopped

-two cloves of garlic chopped or minced

one 32 ounce box of vegetable stock

one tablespoon of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

splash of lemon juice

SEASONINGS OPTIONAL- some people don’t even use seasonings in their carrot soup, but I am an herby kind of a girl. I like to use a blend of basil, thyme, rosemary, and savory (about two tablespoons, or however much you like) Or you can try an herbs du provence blend.

Optional- a bit of sesame oil to drizzle over the top, or you can try other types of oil like truffle oil, etc. Add all ingredients to the pot EXCEPT for the lemon juice. I don’t even bother cutting the baby carrots. Just Put everything into a good sized pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat down to a nice simmer, and cover and let cook for thirty minutes (or until the carrots are soft). When the vegetables are soft turn off the burner. Add a splash of lemon juice, and taste the broth so that you can adjust salt and pepper seasoning. Puree the soup in a blender (usually in two batches) until it is of desired consistency. EASY AND TASTY! Drizzle a little oil over the top of the bowl if desired.

TABOULI

This is the recipe that I used, but I must warn you- this really does make A LOT of tabouli (just over eight cups) so you may want to cut everything in half. I am hoping that this keeps alright, so if I have any left next week I can bring it to school (there are quite a few tabouli addicts in my class). Hmmm, for a more “single person” version follow the purple.

salt, pepper I NEVER tell anybody to use a specific amount of salt or pepper, because all of us have different tastes. I use a lot of pepper, and a little salt, but you may be different. Add small amounts until it tastes the way you want it to. Optional extra ingredient: 6oz bag of slivered almonds. I wanted to add some extra protein, and my instinct was to add pine nuts- but they are sooo freaking expensive that I threw in almonds as well. Next time I make this I am going to make a small amount and add a bag or two of pine nuts, because I think the flavor would be good.

All you have to do is put the kettle on and boil some water. Pour the bulgar into a large container that you can cover. Pour the boiling water over the bulgar, cover, and let sit for thirty minutes. While the bulgar is sitting, chop all the ingredients and combine in a large serving bowl. When the bulgar is ready, dump it in with the rest of your ingredients and mix everything up well. This can be served at room temperature or from the refrigerator.

Serving suggestions: I will eat this plain, or with a whole wheat pita. I also like to make green wraps with it. Take two large romaine leaves (not torn ones) or napa cabbage leaves and lay one flat. Spread a nice layer of hummus on the leaf and then spoon tabouli over it. Cover with the other leaf (like a sammich) and then slice the narrow end off. Curl the sides up and in so that you have a nice burrito. YUM!!!

COCONUT CURRY SOUP

1 can coconut milk

2 cups of vegetable broth (you can also use vegetable bouillon)

1 potato (baked and cut into cubes or chunks)

2 carrots (cooked and cut how you like, I just leave them whole. What I do is bake a large potato for twenty minutes, then I throw a handful of baby carrots onto the same baking sheet with the potato. Drizzle the carrots with olive oil, then put everything back in for half an hour)

1/2 cup broccoli

1/2 cup cauliflower

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

(optional) 3 cloves of garlic

2 tsp curry

1 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp ginger (more to taste)

(optional) cayenne or chili sauce can be added if you want it spicy

While carrots and potato are baking in the oven, add all the remaining ingredients together in a large enough pot. Add salt to taste. Simmer all ingredients over low heat until potato and carrots are done. Add potato and carrots, garnish with parsley and a bit of shredded coconut if desired.

I think next time I make this I will add something with protein (either tofu, bean sprouts or chick peas) to the pot. I’m trying to keep my meals balanced!

BIBIMBAP (Korean)

This is an extraordinarily easy dish to make, and it has been one of my favorites lately. My friend, Deb, taught me how to make it when I was in Michigan recently. It sounded so dull as she described it, but it’s a definite winner. There are all sorts of ways to make this, so get creative!

Ingredients: BASE- 1 cup (more or less) cooked brown rice, I cup raw and shredded greens or spinach, 1 or 2 eggs (depending on how hungry you are). Any sort of hot sauce you like, and soy sauce if you want.

And now your ingredients are pretty much up to you and your taste! Most of the time a shredded carrot is added, and bean sprouts are also traditional. Whatever other veggies you wish to add, saute them so that they are as done as you like. I like to shred a few baby carrots, slice some mushrooms, and add diced onion. I saute the onion for a bit, and then I toss in whatever other veggies I am using.

Throw it together however you like, but here is what I do-

I get a large bowl and put my shredded greens in the bottom of it as the water for the brown rice is being brought to a boil. I like to use the “boil in a bag” brown rice because it only takes ten minutes once the water is boiling. As the rice cooks, I have one pan with the rest of my veggies sauteing in it. I have another to fry up my egg/s in. The rice goes on top of the greens. The veggies go on top of the rice. One or two eggs (leave the yolks runny, because it is part of the “sauce”) go on top of all the goodies. Then dash a little hot sauce over everything, and add some soy sauce if you like. MIX IT ALL UP!!! I honestly don’t bother lining all the stuff up all nice, because you mix everything all together before you eat it anyhow. And it is yummy yummy.

here is another picture, just to get your creative tastebuds juices flowing